12: Whistlin' Dixie
by Silent Elegy
Summary: Just when Danny thought he'd finally caught a break, he found himself in the middle of a battle between a team of ghosts and the hunters trying to chase them down. Now, forced to choose sides, he finds the obvious answer isn't always the right one.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters are the product of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon studios. Kat/Electra, the Ghost Master, and all related characters are the product Silent Elegy.

* * *

"You go in."

"No, you go in."

"You go in."

"No, you go in."

"Dude! You go in."

"Dude, no! You go in."

Behind the two boys, their girlfriends exchanged irritated glances. This was supposed to have been a nice quiet evening at the Nasty Burger followed by a movie and maybe a quick trip to Lover's Lane. Instead, they found themselves standing outside 917 Maple Street in the freezing cold at close to midnight.

Finally deciding that enough was more than enough, one of the girls stepped between the two boys and shoved them apart. "I'll go in," she said, her voice dripping with contempt. The other girl followed right behind her to spare the boys a scornful glare.

They walked boldly up the path; neither believed the rumor that the place was haunted. It was difficult to live in Amity Park and not believe in ghosts, but they managed to be skeptical nonetheless. It made it easy when the only report of ghostly activity was from a pair of homeless drunks.

One of the girls thought she something move in a window and chalked it up to an overactive imagination. The other reached out to put her hand on the doorknob.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, squeaky squawk blared from somewhere within, and all four teenagers froze. When no other noise was forthcoming, they grinned nervously at each other and started to open the door. Once again, they were stopped, this time by the sound of a scale playing on a piano.

"No ghosts, huh?" one of the boys whispered, trying to sound brave. His girlfriend opened her mouth to respond, and the opening strains of "When the Saints Go Marching" started to play on a harmonica. She screamed and ran down the path.

The other girl watched her go with a worried frown, then set her jaw and pushed the door open the rest of the way. Inside, it was dusty, musty, and smelled of mold. Abandoned spider webs hung alongside forgotten Halloween decorations. A nearby table held an old candelabrum with the candles still in occupancy. As the three kids watched, the wicks burst into flame. With a strangled cry, a boy followed his girlfriend in fleeing.

The candelabrum floated into the air as a Dixieland band played a slow march. The girl shook her head dubiously. "Mark, is that you?"

Her boyfriend sighed in relief, latching onto that perfectly reasonable explanation. "Yeah, dude. You got us. Now, knock it off."

A whisper echoed across the foyer; it sounded like someone saying, "Run."

The two teens backed away. "Mark, it's not funny anymore!" the girl called.

The music changed suddenly to a loud and random cacophony of squeals and squawks. A breeze picked up inside the building that blew out the candles moments before they were thrown hard at the kids' feet. The girl screamed and ran after her two friends, followed closely by the boy and a voice that screeched with laughter.


	2. Chapter One

The Nasty Burger was abuzz with two related news stories. On one side of town, the infamous abandoned house 917 Maple Street finally had credible witnesses to the haunting. On the other side, a high-tech group of ghost hunters from the Paranormal Society (Louisiana chapter) had taken up residence at the Marriott.

According to rumor, the PS had come to Amity Park chasing a bunch of ghosts that had been stirred up by Hurricane Katrina. Other rumors held that they were here to capture the infamous ghost boy Danny Phantom, but those were not as prevalent for some reason.

"I'm just saying you should try to keep a low profile," the goth girl told her friend.

"I'd love to," Danny responded. "But you know what's going to happen. I have to at least find out how many are there."

Tucker sighed and looked up from his PDA. "I'm with Sam on this one. You should stay away from there."

Danny dropped his head onto his fist with a disgruntled huff. "Guys, come on. I can't just wait until they try something. People could get hurt." It was a mark of his priorities that he was more worried about the ghosts than the ghost hunters. Concern for others before oneself is a trait very seldom found in a fourteen-year-old boy, at least to that extent.

His friends exchanged disgruntled glances; the boy was as stubborn as his father sometimes. He was definitely a Fenton. "Why don't you talk to Kat first?" Sam offered. "She may know them."

"Because she's in the Ghost Zone spending some quality time with her dad, and I'm not going in after her."

Tucker snickered. "He's in prison again?"

Danny shook his head in exasperation, a wry grin on his face. "Apparently him and Skulker got into it with a bunch of other ghosts over who owns their side of the Fenton Portal, so Walker confiscated it." They left the building laughing. "She says he's got it completely roped off," he continued. "And there's, like, twenty guards around it."

"So that's why the ghost attacks have been so slow lately," Sam realized.

"Man, how long do you think it'll last?"

Danny shrugged. "Forever if we're lucky."

"We should celebrate!" Tucker exclaimed. "They're playing a Star Wars marathon at the multiplex. Let's go."

Sam started to refute on the grounds that she didn't care for Star Wars until she realized that it would keep Danny from investigating the ghosts for a while. The two boys had never seen her so agreeable.

* * *

Ghost hunting was looking better and better. Suddenly, there was time for homework, and Danny found himself wondering why he ever had a problem with not being able to do it. He wondered how many of his parent's inventions would go off if he snuck downstairs to eavesdrop on their company. Once the shouting started, he decided to chance it and became invisible.

He arrived just in time to see the door slam shut and hear his father actually cuss. Jack never cussed. Whatever had happened, it must have been pretty bad. "Jack, dear," Maddie sighed. "Keep your voice down; the kids are upstairs."

He mumbled something unintelligible. "…and the NERVE of them!" He slammed his fist into the table, which cracked under the force.

"Geeze," Jazz breathed, right next to Danny's ear. He jumped, then moved a few steps above her to become visible again.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked.

She didn't even look around. "I know those guys from the Paranormal Society were here. They said something about an exchange of information, then Mom sent me upstairs."

After a moment's thought, the boy reached over and made them both invisible in order to move closer.

Maddie finally succeeded in calming her husband, a difficult task since she was of the same opinion: someone needed to be strangled. "I know they had no right, Jack. But convincing Phantom to use that scream attack on them isn't the answer."

There was a pause. "Maybe not, but it'd make me feel better!"

Danny snickered at the memory of the first time his parents saw his Ghostly Wail. It had been shortly after the last time Ebony Angel came to town. Walker and a handful of goons had been chasing him through the Ghost Zone and followed him back through the Fenton Portal. Once out in the open air and surrounded, he realized he had no choice in the matter, and had unleashed his ultimate attack on the hapless ghosts.

Walker hadn't bothered him since.

"I'm going in," Jazz whispered. She stepped away to became visible again and followed her parents to the kitchen. "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Maddie forced a chuckle. "Everything's fine, sweetie. Your father's just a little upset right now." Jack snorted derisively but did not debate her wording, earning a mildly irate glare from his wife. "I think we need to get out of the house for while," she continued. "Go tell Danny we're having dinner out?"

Danny repressed a joyful shout as he flew back to his room to get ready.

* * *

"So they were actually demanding your parents turn over all their files?" Sam asked incredulously later that night.

On the other end of the phone line, Danny scoffed and shook his head. "They were trying to convince Mom and Dad that they've got some kind of dirt on us from Baltimore. But I don't know what it could be. I mean, aside from me being half ghost, we told the police everything."

"You don't think that's it, do you?"

They fell silent for a few seconds, contemplating the implications. When the boy finally replied, he didn't sound quite as convincing as he intended. "I doubt it. Mom's the only one who knew, and I made her forget."

"Are you sure about that?" Sam pressed. "What about that Ed guy?"

"Ed…didn't make it."

"But you said he figured out that you're a Fenton. What if he told someone or something?"

As much as he hated to agree, he found that he had to. The former head of the Paranormal Society had been alone for a good hour or two after they met; he had plenty of time to make some record of his findings.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Sam asked. The uncomfortable silence seemed to beg for a change of subject.

Danny cringed; he'd been hoping to avoid that subject. Even his parents had expressed concern about walking into 917 Maple Street without knowing exactly what they were up against. Jazz had spent three hours to extract a promise from him not to go there. He was fully planning on breaking it as soon as the household went to bed. Sam, apparently sensing the general direction of his thoughts, added, "You're not thinking of going out _there_, are you?"

"Uh, no! Of course, not! Heh, how stupid do you think I am?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Funny, Sam. Look, I already promised Jazz I wouldn't go over there, so don't worry."

"…I do anyway." She huffed as a faint voice sounded over the line. "I got to go; Mom's calling. Please don't do anything stupid?"

"I promise." After they said their goodbyes, Danny sighed. No, he wouldn't do anything stupid. After all, it would be stupid to wait until someone got hurt.

* * *

It may have been dark, but it was far from quiet. A saxophone wailed its sad song, clearly audible through the broken windows. It was a surprisingly heart-wrenching sound made even more so by the tinny sympathy of muted trumpets. Danny recognized the song from his occasional foray near the band room chasing after ghosts during jazz practice. He'd never heard it played by professionals, though.

"Harlem Nocturne," said a lightly accented voice just as his ghost sense went off. "You should hear'em when Gypsy sings. Make a gator cry, she would."

Danny finally pinpointed the voice as belonging to what he had thought was a loose drape blowing out the window. He'd never seen a drape with glowing red eyes before, though. The ghost looked like it was nothing but a floating bed sheet; it didn't appear to have a body, at all. He charged his fists with ectoplasmic energy and held his ground, forcing the…being to stop or float into him.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded. Somehow, it was very difficult to be scared of a floating bed sheet.

The eyes that peered out from the darkness seemed amused for some reason. It probably had something to do with the fact that Danny was surrounded, at least, according to his ghost sense. "Me?" the specter asked in mock confirmation. "I be the Ghost Master. Ever'thing living and dead bows to my will."

Suddenly, this seemed like a very stupid idea. Danny knew there were ghosts here, but he hadn't realized there were so many. He found Sam and Jazz's words had come back to haunt him and shoved them away; he needed to focus.

There were three ghosts behind the Ghost Master. Two identical female faces peered curiously out of a nearby window, while five had crowded close together on his other side. He chanced a glance over his shoulder to see two more, one of whom looked like a banshee. Then, there was still undefined number of band members, who were still playing somewhere inside.

Summoning his most cocksure attitude to combat the unease, he said, "Is this all you've got?"

The banshee screeched with laughter. "Ho, he be a feisty one, don't he?"

"Don't hurt him too bad," one of the twins called.

"Let us play with him," the other finished.

Ghost Master chuckled evilly. "I dunno, ladies. He looks a might young to like chains and whips."

"But half the fun…"

"…is him not enjoying it."

"They've got you there, GM," said one the others from somewhere.

Danny's head reeled; the last time he was surrounded by this many hostiles, he'd had the Fenton Ecto-Skeleton and a lot of help. Worse, they were slowly moving closer. Even though they didn't seem openly hostile, he definitely felt threatened. He glanced around at the threateningly non-hostile figures, then dove through the ground to come up behind them. It was somewhat confusing that his escape earned nothing but a roar of laughter from the assembled motley crew. He felt like he should say something, but everything he thought seemed far too pathetic.

"So this be the in-famous Danny Phantom?" Ghost Master taunted. "He's just a weak kid. Get out of here, kid. The Ghost Master thinks we play a little too rough for you."

Danny clenched his teeth and fists, desperate to go over there and prove them wrong. If they decided to fight, however, he was grossly outnumbered. He knew the intelligent thing would be to leave while they were giving him the chance. "I'm not running away," he informed them. "I'll be back. Count on it."

"We'll be waiting, kid," the ghost called after him. "We'll be waiting."


	3. Chapter Two

Danny sighed miserably. He didn't like keeping secrets from his friends, especially when they knew his biggest one. Still, he found himself wishing that he had not told them about the previous night's adventure. "I wasn't in any danger," he tried to reiterate.

His friends fixed him with the combined force of their glares. They were clearly unconvinced, not that he could blame them. He had trouble convincing himself. After a few moments, Tucker asked, "Well, did you figure out how many of them there are?"

Danny scoffed. "Yeah, way too many. I don't what I'm going to do if they decide to attack."

"You could always let the Paranormal Society handle it," Sam pointed out. "That is why they're here."

He looked around the Nasty Burger simply to avoid their eyes. It was on his tongue to tell them exactly why he didn't trust the men from the PS, how their former head had been both directly and indirectly responsible for the deaths of countless people. He had just decided to change the subject instead when his ghost sense changed it for him. "Ah, not now," he groaned.

"Where's the ghost?" Tucker asked. He was saved from having to look by a loud crash as a human body flew through a window. Screaming naturally ensued.

"Where's Danny?" Sam demanded.

The techno geek spotted him first. "Where do you think?" He gestured toward where a black and white blur was about to engage something that looked like it might have been an alligator at one time.

It roared and lashed its tail and nearly took out a few more of the PS members that had come to stop it. It lunged upward to snap at Danny as he plowed into it right behind its head. It was probably a good thing that he never realized how close he came to being snapped in half like a twig. "What are you supposed to be?" he mocked, backing away. "A reject from 'The Crocodile Hunter'?" The thing roared again and whipped around to snap at him; again, its teeth closed on open air.

Someone yelled, "It's the ghost kid!"

Someone else yelled, "It's Inviso-Bill!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "It's Danny Phantom!" he yelled back. Then there was only time to dodge energy blasts from the various ecto-weaponry while not getting ravaged by a mad alligator.

One of the hunters lassoed the creature with some kind of glowing cord. After a moment, it vanished to a chorus of cussing. Danny took the temporary respite to wonder what had happened. He thought they had caught it, but they acted like it had gotten away. The attack almost started again, then came to an abrupt halt as a scream split the air.

"Danny!"

And a painfully familiar accent drawled, "Danny! Oh, Danny! Mercy, boy, save me!"

"Put her down!" The boy hovered uncertainly, hesitant to move forward lest the Ghost Master hurt Sam, but hesitant to do nothing.

Suddenly, a blast of green energy hit the ghost from behind. Danny lunged forward to catch his friend and set her safely on the ground. "Guys, get out of here," he ordered quietly. Finally in agreement, Tucker dragged Sam away.

"Stay out of this, Fenton!" someone from the PS was yelling. Ghost Master was nowhere to be found, but Jack and Maddie had arrived. Danny shook his head and wondered at how life had gotten so confusing so quickly.

"You take care of that haunting team," Maddie returned. "The ghost boy is our responsibility."

"Then why's he still walking around?"

"Um…floating…" Danny corrected him. He was subsequently ignored, which seemed very strange. His ghost sense continued to go off, but he didn't see anything. Additionally, even Jack had failed to notice his comment. He was beginning to get a little worried.

"Don't worry, little half ghost," laughed a source-less voice. "Why don't you come with me and let us explain?"

"I don't need you to explain anything," he answered, still looking for the speaker. "You're ghosts, and you've attacked humans."

She laughed again and materialized barely a foot from his face, eliciting a startled gasp. "You're very young, aren't you? Haunters aren't like rogue ghosts, little boy. We feed off fear; injuring mortals is counterproductive."

"Is that supposed to make a difference to me?"

She narrowed her eyes, and just for a moment, her breathtaking features were replaced by something horrible and unspeakable. Then she smiled, if coldly, and the moment was gone. "You are very strange, aren't you, little boy? Fine. But when you grow tired of the mortals, come back and see me."

The apparent gypsy vanished. After a moment, the Paranormal Society noticed Danny was still there and began firing. He had just enough time to see both Maddie and Jack protesting before they were all out of sight again.

* * *

The Fenton household was unusually tense. Jazz had finally left for the library to get away, but Danny had stayed behind, ostensibly in case he needed help with his homework. In reality, he needed an explanation that he couldn't ask for. He sat at the kitchen table and tried to concentrate on math and his parents simultaneously.

"Acting like we're not completely competent…" Jack grumbled, the irony lost on him.

Danny glanced up to see his mother hide a smile. "Jack, dear," she sighed. "Why don't you go for a drive until you cool down? Maybe you'll find a ghost."

He seemed to perk up a bit at that, so the boy added, "Yeah, I heard there's one that hangs out in the graveyard this time of day."

"I'll get the weapons!" Jack announced, his usual overly-boisterous self once again. Danny snickered at the thought of unleashing his father on Kat. She certainly deserved it for telling it the whole school that Danny Phantom had a boyfriend.

A few minutes later, Maddie laughed quietly. "Your father…Well, hopefully, he'll stay out of trouble."

"Sure you don't want to go with him?"

She shook her head and sat down. "The only ghosts out there right now are those haunters. I just hope he doesn't try to go after them. The PS' last count had twenty of them."

Danny cringed but took the proffered opening. "What's a haunter?"

His mother gave him a rather curious expression before answering. "They're relatively weak ghosts alone; that's why they work in teams. Together, they can pool their powers and abilities to come up with some pretty spectacular haunts." She leaned back slightly, a wistful smile playing across her lips.

"Your father and I, for our honeymoon, went to this adorable little bed and breakfast in Missouri. It had about five haunters that everyone thought were murder victims from its seedy history. The owner almost threw us out when we told him we would catch them. Since they weren't hurting anyone, we went ahead and let them stay. Of course, we still keep an eye on them from time to time."

The boy thought about that for a few minutes. "So…they're not evil?"

"Oh, honey, they're ghosts," Maddie laughed. "They're naturally obsessive and selfish, and probably very evil. But they're not usually dangerous, no."

"Then why is the PS hunting them down?"

She shrugged. "The same reason we do, I imagine." She stood again, heralding an end to the conversation, but Danny had one last question.

"What's a ghost master?"

Maddie froze, and for a moment, he thought he had asked the wrong thing. Then she relaxed slightly and turned back. "A kind of wight, I believe. They lead haunting teams. We've encountered so few of them, I don't quite remember everything. Your father has some books on the subject down in the lab. You should look through them, if you're interested."

The phone rang. Danny stayed where he was until his mother went running through the house to the front door, probably to go rescue her husband. After some deliberation, he went downstairs to look through the Fenton Ghost Library.


	4. Chapter Three

Danny sat at the kitchen table, books strewn across every available surface. An hour after his mother had left, he was still the only one home and still no closer to finding anything useful about the Ghost Master. He had so far managed to learn that wights were more like faeries or elves than ghosts, but that the term had been appropriated by Tolkien for his Barrow-Wights. That didn't help.

Suddenly, the lights began to flicker, and the little television turned itself on and off a few times. "Kat, knock it off," he said without looking up.

"I'll knock you off, boy!" she exclaimed, appearing across the table.

Danny blinked and gave her a mildly bemused look. "That sounded wrong."

"Oh, bite me. I'm half-tempted to shove you through that portal for setting Jack and Maddie on me." She flopped into a chair and propped her head against her hand. "What are you doing?"

Deciding that it was as good a time as any for a break, he leaned back and stretched. "Do you know what a wight is?"

"Bound ghost," she replied after a moment's thought. "They take the 'unfinished business' thing to a whole new level of obsession, often refusing to leave the place they died until they've buggered some poor soul into completing whatever mission they have. Why?"

"That doesn't make sense…" he muttered, staring at the open book in front of him. "He's here from Louisiana, so he can't be a wight."

"Louisiana?" Kat started to chuckle. "Oh, I see. This is about that team that got displaced, isn't it?"

"You know about that?"

"Only because Walker was so pissed off." She laughed loudly at some remembrance and shook her head. "Apparently, a couple of them like to dance at some nightclub he goes to when he's off-duty."

Danny wasn't sure what was stranger: the fact that Walker actually went off-duty, or the fact that he frequented a nightclub. He decided not to comment for fear of his sanity. "So what about the Ghost Master, then?" he asked instead.

Kat shrugged. "That, I couldn't tell you, but I'll ask around." She vanished again as suddenly as she had arrived, and Danny sighed. Ever since she got to know him well enough to stop being formal, she'd become abrupt to the point of rudeness. He wondered if that was personality flaw or just a result of not being held to human standards for so long.

Either way, he resolved to never let himself get that bad, then began cleaning up the books. It occurred to him to wonder why she was actually being helpful for a change, but his thoughts were interrupted by the phone. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, it me!" announced Tucker's voice from the other end. "How soon can you get here? I think I may have found something."

"I'll be right there!" he exclaimed, hanging up. It wasn't until he was sky high and a block away that he mentally smacked himself for already breaking his resolution.

Sam was already there, he noticed as he dove through the roof. "What's up?" he asked, becoming visible again.

It was a measure of how much time they spent in his presence that they didn't jump. Tucker moved over slightly so he could see the computer screen. "Check it out!"

It was a newspaper article, and page one by the look. The screen was mostly filled by a black and white photo of two uniformed men who appeared to be trying to approach an alligator with something sticking out of its mouth. He reached through Tucker, who protested loudly, to scroll down to the text.

"Ted?" he read dubiously.

"Apparently, he used to be some kid's pet," Sam explained, her voice bitter. "I can't believe people do things like that! Get a potentially dangerous animal as a pet and then act astonished and get rid of it the first time it tries to bite your hand off. I mean, it's not like it's his fault!"

"Sam," Tucker interrupted. "It's an alligator."

"Alligators are people, too!"

Danny distractedly shushed his friends, although he wasn't paying much attention anyway. He had just found out that the thing sticking out of Ted's mouth was a man who had been swimming in the swamp on a dare. Ted had as much of the man's lower body as would fit in his mouth. "I didn't know alligators could eat people whole," he murmured, astonished and horrified.

"They can't. It was probably trying to drag him under."

"He," Sam corrected. Tucker just rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's the alligator. I wonder if that's the Ghost Master..."

"Tucker!" Mrs. Foley yelled from downstairs. "Mrs. Fenton is looking for Danny. Is he up there?"

Danny cringed and nodded. "Uh, yeah!" Tucker called back.

"Well, she needs him back home!"

The three friends exchanged glances; Danny sighed and reverted to human form. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you later, maybe."

He considered flying home, but that wouldn't take enough time. As he walked, he thought about all he'd learned and what it could mean. Something about the whole situation had him bothered, and he wasn't sure what. The PS couldn't be held responsible for Ed Johnson's corruption, but Danny just couldn't bring himself to trust them. On the other hand, only a handful of ghosts had ever earned his trust; of them, only three could be called friends, and one didn't even count as a ghost.

Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling that didn't have anything to do with his ghost sense. He'd been aware of the person following him for some time, but whoever it was had just gotten a lot closer. He turned around just in time to have a rag shoved against his mouth and nose. He tried to struggle, but to no avail. It occurred to him to wonder why he didn't think to go intangible, and then it didn't matter anymore.

* * *

"Uh huh...no, it's fine, I'm sure. Yes, thank you."

Maddie hung up the phone and sighed. "Honey, I'm getting worried," she joining her husband and daughter in the living room. "It shouldn't take two hours to walk a few blocks."

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine!" Jazz said quickly, as though she knew something they didn't. Maddie had a feeling she might know what that was.

"Now, Maddie," Jack tried to placate. "You know Danny's always late." She had a feeling she knew why that happened, as well. With another worried sigh, she turned her attention to her husband's excited pointing. "Look at that!" he announced angrily. "They caught the ghost kid! I wanted to catch him!"

A quick glance at Jazz's suddenly pale complexion confirmed the woman's fears. Danny had tried to make her forget, and she had been very confused for a long time after. Well, she was still confused as to how he and his alter ego could be in two places at the same time, but it no longer mattered. "Sweetie, I'm going out," she said, standing. As an afterthought, she turned back slightly to address her daughter. "Stay with your father and make sure he stays out of trouble."

"Maddie..." Jack whined in his best impression of a spoiled child. She blew him a kiss and went out to the Fenton Assault Vehicle.

* * *

Danny felt like his eyes were sealed shut and his mouth had been stuffed with cotton. A small ghost was apparently hitting him in the head with a mallet, judging by the way it pounded every time he moved. He was in some kind of clear tube in a laboratory that put his parents' to shame. Looking around, he recognized a few of the Ghost Master's team members throwing themselves against similar prisons. The elderly banshee had her mouth open in a scream that wasn't even audible.

They knew. That was the only possible answer. He wasn't sure how, but they did. Maybe Ed had said something; maybe Vlad had said something. What was important was that he figured out how escape before his parents missed him.

Suddenly, a shock passed through him that activated his transformation rings against his will. He gasped and changed back, but one of the scientists hit a button. The shock hit him again, a bit worse than the first time, and transformed him again. "How are you doing that?" he demanded. They either couldn't hear, or they were ignoring him. He suspected the latter, but it could have been either.

He tried to blast the tube a few times, but the walls merely absorbed the energy. After being shocked for a third time, he gave up and tried to figure out something else. Maybe he could reason with them...


	5. Chapter Four

Maddie rolled to a stop in front 917 Maple Street. She was worried about going inside alone, but she was relatively confident they wouldn't do anything worse than try to scare her.

Relatively.

She paused at the front door to listen to the cacophony of a band as it warmed up before playing, then stepped inside. Instant silence left her ears ringing, but she only stopped long enough for her eyes to adjust to the gloom before creeping forward. The Fenton Ghost Finder was going insane, but she didn't need it to tell her that something was practically on top of her. The oppressive chill was more than enough.

She stopped in the middle of the foyer and looked around. One of the chairs had been draped with a sheet; unlit, but recently-used, candles were in ample abundance. "I know you're there!" she called out. "Now, show yourself!"

"Maddie..." whispered an unnatural breeze.

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, boys. That's the oldest trick in the book." That sheet really did look familiar...

The sound of scales on a piano was so cliché as to be laughable. The rattling of various artifacts scattered about was just as bad. After a few minutes of trying not to laugh as they tried to scare her, she shook her head. "You're new to this, aren't you?"

Everything stopped. "Good! Now, I don't have time to mess arou-" She stopped again as the sound of growling met her ears. If this was any other ghost house, she would have dismissed it and continued speaking. These haunters, however, were different. These haunters had an alligator.

The ghost hunter jumped out of the way just as the tortured-looking creature lunged out from under the sheet. It whipped around, snarling and snapping in a manner that would have better fit a rabid dog. For whatever reason went through its reptilian head, the alligator was out for blood.

Maddie ducked around a corner and ran. She could almost feel the creature's teeth brush her ankles and somehow managed to go faster. She found a set of stairs, which she took two at a time in the hopes of slowing her pursuer. Fortunately, it worked. Whether it couldn't climb stairs or just didn't realize it could fit if it went intangible, it stopped to stare up at her. After a few minutes, it moved away, and she fell against the wall in relief.

"Now, that was quite a run, ma'am."

She fixed the Ghost Master with a withering glare. "It was totally unnecessary," she informed him. "I only came to talk."

The ghost shrugged, his eyes glittering with amusement. "You think I can control that gator, you got another think coming. He do what he want, when he want." He seemed to laugh as he watched her straighten up to her full height, challenging his authority. He liked a challenge. "So..." he might have breathed if he had lungs. "What's a pretty young thing like yourself doing in a place like this?"

"I want you to tell me where the Paranormal Society has taken all the ghosts." Maddie displayed her Fenton Ghost Bazooka and added, "And maybe I won't send you all back where you belong."

Ghost Master narrowed his eyes. "The Ghost Master got a better idea," he replied. "Maybe I don't know why you want it, but some of mine is stuck in there."

"And you can't get through their ghost shield."

"And we can't get through the shield," he mocked, though whether it was himself or Maddie was up for debate. "The Ghost Master'll take you there, if you help rescue them."

She considered that very carefully. She really only cared about getting her son free, and he was more important than any animosity between Fentons and ghosts. Of course, that meant that she would be willingly unleashing an unknown number of dangerous spirits on Amity Park...

At last, she nodded. She would just have to deal with the ghosts when the time came.

Ghost Master led the way back through the house and fazed through the door of the Fenton RV. Shaking her head at his audacity, she climbed in through the driver's side. "So how many of you are coming?"

"You okay in the head, ma'am? I ain't puttin' no more of mine in danger. You got me, and that be all."

Maddie nodded. "Good, then let's get one thing straight. As soon as this is over, so is this truce. Got it?"

After a few moments' silence, she turned slightly to see her temporary companion regarding her with that infernally amused expression of his. "I love a forceful woman," he all but purred.

"I'm married," she replied coldly.

"And I'm dead, but I ain't letting that stop me."

By the time they reached the abandoned warehouse, she was ready to kill him all over again. "Are you sure this is right?" she asked, cutting off his latest pick-up line.

Finally switching back to business mode, he nodded. "It's where I followed them to, but I couldn't get no further."

Maddie stared up at the broken windows, deep in thought. In retrospect, she probably should have paid more attention to the ghost. She hadn't expected to suddenly find herself smothered with a sheet. "You didn't think old Ghost Master'd let you walk in alone, did you?" he whispered next to her ear. Then she was trying to kick him out of her mind as he moved in to take over.

Her next clear memory was of standing just inside the door of the warehouse. Next to her, the Ghost Master shuddered and twitched as he tried to sort himself out again. "_Shaze_, woman!" he exclaimed, seemingly exhausted. "You is quite the little fighter, ain'cha?"

"If you ever try that again," she replied, her voice low and full of malice. "I will personally rip you to shreds and send what's left into oblivion."

The ghost chuckled nervously. "Feisty. I think you would, at that."

She smiled a bit evilly. "Count on it."

The huge room was full of boxes lined up in rows. A little investigation found that most of them were completely empty. A few had some kind of equipment hidden within, but she suspected that was mostly for show, as well.

"…Heard something up here…" said a voice. Maddie jumped as Ghost Master settled around her again and tried to fight him off, then both froze as a pair of security guards walked into view.

"Man, I think you were hearing things," laughed the younger of the two, looking directly at them. After some deliberation, the guards went back.

"Now, I know you don't like me," Ghost Master whispered. "But maybe you need me." When no reply was immediately forthcoming, he added, "And maybe I need you."

"You don't have much power, do you?" she asked smugly. She felt him shrug; it was an odd sensation.

"What can I say? The Ghost Master's the brains, here. The gator's the brawn."

Maddie scoffed quietly and crept forward. Personally, she didn't think he was very intelligent. Maybe it was his chauvinism or the third-person speech, or maybe it was simply that he was a ghost. Whatever it was, he struck her as being somewhat dim and overly arrogant.

The two guards sat at a little desk, watching a television as Maddie slipped passed. She suddenly found herself reminded of the movie Men in Black as she pushed a button for the elevator. It dinged in response; she cringed and turned back, but the guards didn't seem to care. They probably thought someone was coming up. At last, the door opened, and she ducked inside.

"Finally!" Ghost Master exclaimed, pulling away again. He gave a somewhat exaggerated shudder and pulled the sheet closed.

"So what happened to your body, anyway?" the woman asked, letting curiosity overcome her.

"It's a long and embarrassing story-" He was suddenly cut off by a blaring alarm. "…That I'll maybe tell you about later!" he called over the noise.

"They must have a camera in here," Maddie huffed. Ghost Master threw himself against the walls, but only succeeded in making himself even more annoying. "Will you stop that? We're still moving…there must be another way out…"

The ghost started to growl; he almost sounded like the alligator, but it hadn't come along. Maddie shoved the thought away and checked the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a maintenance panel. Using the Ghost Bazooka, she was able to nudge it out of the way and jump up.

"Hey, woman! You can't leave me here!"

He sounded desperate…frightened even. She tried to ignore him, but his pleading was so full of hopeless terror. She would have to have been inhuman to ignore it. "I can't believe I'm doing this…" she muttered, dropping back down. "Just make it quick."

He settled around her again, then she was looking at the world through a hazy tunnel. She felt her arms move of their own volition, and it was a terrifying experience. She unconsciously started to fight the interloper and had to force herself to relax again. It seemed like an eternity before he withdrew with a parting, "I knew you loved me."

"Shut up."


	6. Chapter Five

"Do you know what it means...to miss New Orleans?" sang one of the ghosts. Poorly.

"Alto!" barked one of the others. "Leave the singing to them as can actually sing!"

"Then leave the playing to them as can actually play, Dear Tenor," she shot back.

Danny let his gaze rove across them all. While it was probably nothing more than a "we're all in this together" mentality, he found himself warming up to his fellow prisoners. They really weren't half-bad for ghosts. He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of his name. "Huh?"

There were some good-natured chuckles. "I said, do you play?" the guitarist repeated. Danny's headshake earned an amused chorus of groans that was quickly silenced by the return of the scientists. They fiddled with the computer for a few moments while the haunters tried not to seem too interested. Suddenly, a mild shock passed through Danny that forced him back into his human form just before the glass surrounding him lifted.

He waited until they stepped away from the terminal, then lunged backward. He felt something buzz and heard a gasp. Apparently, they had put up a ghost shield without realizing it would only affect him in ghost mode. He heard the other ghosts cheering him on as he once again transformed into his alter ego and zoomed over the scientists' heads.

Suddenly, the main door opened and eight uniformed guards charged in. He threw up his shield as they started firing, but the shots went straight through. Human again and much weakened, he could only watch helplessly as the scientists took quite a few blood samples before returning him to his prison.

* * *

Maddie wrapped her arms around the ladder rungs and leaned against them. A pair of floating red eyes blinked lazily a few inches from her own, strangely amused at the simple human ability to get tired. It was a disorienting effect since the "cowl" of his sheet was pushed back: a pair of eyes floating above nothing... "Now, what happened to your body?" she asked breathlessly.

Ghost Master pushed the cowl back up, almost self-consciously, and shrugged. "Got eaten by a gator," he confessed.

"_The_ alligator?"

"What can I say? We been through a lot together." He laughed for some reason. "Heck, he died killin' me."

Maddie looked at him for a few seconds, unsure whether she should laugh or not. Finally, she just started climbing again. "Eventually, they're going to come up here after us, you know?"

"Dunno why you're worried. T'ain't like they can just lock you up. Not like me, anyway."

Maddie stopped again, as much to rest as to regard her companion. Danny's attitude, she could understand; he was still half-human. However, all her experience with other ghosts had led her to conclude that they weren't that intelligent. They tended to focus on a certain goal, and it was that obsession that kept them from moving on. Of course, she'd never actually had occasion to have a conversation with one before. She caught herself wondering what kept him around, a thought that she decided to voice.

"I used to know," he replied wistfully. When no further conversation was forthcoming, they resumed their descent.

They were nearly down; she could see the top of the elevator. How long this place had been here, she couldn't say. The simple fact that the elevator went so deep into the earth implied that someone had known this would happen for some time. She started to ask the Ghost Master how long he had been planning to move to Amity Park, but changed her mind. Suddenly learning that ghosts, normal ghosts, were intelligent was somewhat disturbing. Being forced, once again, to come to terms with the fact that Danny was half-ghost was more than earth-shattering enough. She didn't much care to have her world view destroyed any further. Maybe later, when she didn't have so much else on her mind.

She stepped carefully onto the roof of the car and motioned her companion closer. "Is the ghost shield still up?" she whispered. He tried to drop through it, then nodded. After a moment's thought, Maddie leaned down to put her ear against the metal. She didn't hear anything, but...

"Can you go through the walls?" A corner of the sheet vanished into the nearest wall; he nodded. "Go see how many of them there are." His eyes glittered impishly, and he let the sheet fall over her. She bit back a retort as she yanked it away just in time to see those eyes vanish.

So the sheet was not actually part of him. She had her suspicions, but he had just provided confirmation: he was not a wight. He was barely a disturbance, with almost no power to speak of. So how could he possibly have been in command of such a large haunting team? And, more importantly, how did he keep the loyalty of such a primal spirit as the alligator, an embodiment of pure rage?

She felt the sheet tug out of her grasp and looked up to see those eyes again. "Eight 'cross from the door," he whispered. "Two down to the left; there's a corner there. Maybe more down it, but I didn't look."

Maddie nodded. "The other side?"

"Blank wall, and shielded, at that." His eyes dimmed slightly as he narrowed them. "They's expecting us, ain't they?"

"They have to know we're here. But what are they waiting for...?"

Ghost Master straightened and seemed to grin. "Ain't it obvious? They're scared of the Ghost Master."

Maddie rolled her eyes. He was really the most irritating, egotistical...

And suddenly, and idea struck. "Prove it." When her only reply was a blank stare, she scoffed as derisively as possible and gestured downwards. "If you're so all-mighty and terrifying, go down there and scare them off."

She was rewarded with a moment of unease, but, as expected, his ego wouldn't allow for questioning. "Fine!" he announced. "I will!" Then he was gone again. After a moment, she was alarmed to hear a panicked shout followed by the sound of snarling and snapping.

He had brought the alligator. He had actually brought that menace along without warning her, and he had unleashed it on those poor humans. She quickly checked the charge on the Ghost Bazooka, something that had become habit ever since the attack on Town Hall-

And her heart skipped a beat as the implications suddenly hit her. If Jack hadn't forgotten...

She shoved the thought away. Danny needed her now, and letting the past get in the way wouldn't save him. She dropped through the maintenance hatch and ducked outside to see a reptilian tail disappear around the corner. The few people that hadn't gotten away in time laid around in various states of consciousness. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries. Maybe Ghost Master had more control than he let on. She made sure the fallen guards were, in fact, still alive before moving on.

More unconscious humans met her eyes. Beyond them, the off-white sheet swirled around slightly as Ghost Master donned it like a cloak. "They weren't expecting the Ghost Master," he laughed.

Maddie sighed heavily. "You mean they weren't expecting the alligator?" He actually chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head...or, at least, went through the motions.

"Yeah...well..."

"Freeze!" yelled a guard as he appeared at the far end of the hall. Maddie ducked back around the corner, quickly joined by her "war buddy". "Come out with your hands, or hand substitutes, in the air!"

Maddie started to speak, but the sound of the elevator going back up distracted her. They were trapped. "A'right, look," Ghost Master said. "We're going to have to trust each other, here. I can keep them busy long enough for you to get by. I'm trusting you to let my team free."

"Why would you trust me?" she asked suspiciously.

He seemed to smile. "Let's just say, you remind me of an old flame." He seemed to focus on something very far away as he added quietly, "She was fine lady, was Kelly...strong...a lot like you..."

After a moment, Maddie sighed. "Just don't hurt anyone."

"I can't make no promises on that, but I swear I won't kill'em." It would have to do, she supposed. She nodded.

Ghost Master seemed to grin as he let the sheet fall one last time. Something growled, and that was all the warning she had before the alligator lunged out of the open air where his body should have been. For just a moment, she saw him as a hazy fog that was sucked into the creature's mouth. It snarled at her before charging back around the corner.

The Ghost Master and the alligator were fused souls. Maddie had to mentally smack herself for not catching that when he described how they died. Although it wasn't particularly uncommon since the invention of gunpowder and, subsequently, bombs, she had never met one before. Maybe he would be worth not sending back to the Ghost Zone, at least immediately. She might never get another chance to meet a ghost like him, after all.

She waited a few minutes, just until Ghost Master had the guards distracted, before charging out herself. Focused on the rampaging beast as they were, they paid little attention to the human.


	7. Chapter Six

Danny sighed miserably and rubbed the inside of his elbow. Although his transformation had healed the pinprick, it still bothered him. He wondered what they were planning and how long they'd been planning it. He wondered where he was, and if anyone would ever find him here. He wondered what he would tell him parents if he ever got free.

"Psst!" The ghost boy glanced up to see one of the twins trying to get his attention. "Listen," she hissed.

From somewhere else in the facility, someone screamed. He thought it was very far away until the door opened and the sound increased exponentially. The scientists immediately began to protest. "We have a security breach!" one of the guards cut them off. "Back up your work and terminate the subjects!"

"No!" Danny screamed, a useless gesture. "You can't do this! I'm human!" He was completely ignored.

"Hey, and what about us?" yelled the guitarist. Casey, he'd learned. "We used to be human!"

"This is discrimination!"

The banshee thumped against the side of her prison, soundlessly demanding to know what was going on.

"I don't want to die!"

"We're already dead!"

"Well, I'm not!" Danny broke in. He started to blast the walls again, growing desperate to escape. If they had something that could kill a ghost, what would it do to him?

* * *

Maddie ducked through a door to escape the guards and found herself in some kind of break area. A few men in lab coats had been standing around talking; they started to babble incoherently at sight of her weapon. "Where are you keeping the ghosts?" she demanded, training the Ghost Bazooka on them in a bluff. 

One actually fainted, earning a contemptuous snort from his colleague. The third pointed down the hall. "S-s-second hall…" he stammered. "Third d-d-d-door on the l-left. But you'll never get past the security lock!"

She barely heard the last sentence, already on her way as she was. She felt a chill as the alligator ran through her to meet their opponents. A few terrified scientists ran by; they were in for a nasty surprise when the reached the elevator. If the angered shouts were any judge, it was still being held upstairs.

The Ghost Bazooka really wasn't designed for attacking humans. She hadn't actually expected to fight her way through an underground facility. In fact, the only reason she had brought the weapon along was because she thought the ghosts would give her more of a fight. She thought getting Danny out of the facility would be the easy part.

The whole place reminded her vaguely of a military installation. The guards clearly weren't army, but they also weren't trained in ghost combat. They probably hadn't even believed in ghosts until the alligator charged into their midst. Their weapons were ectoplasmic based, but the scientists were doubtlessly responsible for that.

She passed the first hall, completely ignored by the guards. Apparently, someone had figured out that the Ghost Master was a bigger threat, and had disregarded her as potentially dangerous. Had anyone even tried to apprehend her, they would have realized their mistake. Fortunately, no one did.

There was a crunch followed by a terrified shout as the alligator's jaws closed on someone's leg. Maddie cringed and turned down the second hall. Since the panic had not spread this far, the few guards yelled for her to freeze. She threw herself back around the corner and clutched the Ghost Bazooka, mentally calculating how much damage it would do to flesh.

A reptilian snout bumped her leg; he seemed to be getting tired enough that he was no longer out of control. "Six," she informed him, gesturing with her thumb. "Right outside where we need to be. And try not to knock them all out; we still need to get through the door."

He snorted and stomped around the corner. There was a cut-off shout followed by a scream, then the sounds of weapons'-fire. After a moment, she heard a whoosh, and the sound of footsteps heralded the appearance of three more scientists. "Door's open, ma'am!" called Ghost Master. She slipped around the corner to see that the alligator had been put to rest again. His floating eyes darted toward the door in a gesture of impatience. "Something's wrong; be quick-like!"

"What is it?" she demanded, running forward.

Eight glass tubes, each filled with some kind of translucent gas and a fading ghost. She saw Danny, his hands to his throat as though choking but not faded like the others. It was barely a second to take it all in, then she dashed across to the computer console.

"Get'em out, woman!"

"I'm trying!" Maddie snapped without taking her eyes off the monitor. She tried to push the sight of her son out of mind and focus on the lock sequence. After a moment, she was rewarded by a slight hiss and the sound of all-too-human gasping. She wanted to run to him and make sure he was okay, but more guards took that moment to arrive.

"Freeze! All of you! Hands in the air!"

If the situation hadn't been so dire, she might have laughed. Ghost Master did laugh. "What is that, regulation?" he asked.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek rang out across the acoustically unsound, enclosed, metal walls. Maddie screamed and clutched her ears, dropping to her knees in agony. She thought she felt something grab her, but it was a long time before she was able to pull her hands away. Even then, her ears rang horribly.

They were traveling through solid rock. She wasn't sure whether to be nauseated or fascinated, so she did both. "I think I'm going to be sick," she muttered.

"Sorry," Danny said nervously. Then they in open air again, and she turned to smile encouragingly.

"Oh, not you," she replied. "It was that banshee."

He let her down by the Fenton RV and drifted a few feet farther away than was really necessary. "Um…thanks for saving me, Mo-uh Maddie."

He didn't realize she knew? She started to correct him, then stopped. He had tried to make her forget; he didn't want her to know. Channeling her old acting classes, she adopted a suspicious posture and nodded. "Well, you did save Danny a few times. But don't think this means I'll go easy on you. And now, I need to go see if my son is still at his friend's house."

She almost laughed at the expression of dismay that crossed his face, quickly hidden by an uncertain grin. "Well, good luck with that!" he said, waving slightly as she got into RV and drove away.

"I am in so much trouble," he groaned. After a moment's hesitation over whether or not to go help the ghosts below, he launched into the sky and angled for Tucker's house. They could take care of themselves.

After some thought, he landed a block away to become human again and started running home. Sure enough, before too long, his mother pulled up. Neither of them spoke as he climbed into the passenger side and sat hunched over, the picture of miserable dejection. "I can totally explain," he muttered, even though he knew he couldn't.

Maddie shook her head and tried not smile. "I'll forget it this once, Danny. We had quite a bit of excitement, and I'm just glad your okay."

Much relieved, he sighed happily and leaned back. It never did occur to him to wonder why his mother had gone to save her enemy before looking for her son.

* * *

"Police are still trying to figure out exactly what happened here last night, but, so far, no clues are forthcoming. Back to you, Harriet." 

Danny turned off the news and yawned. He couldn't say he was sorry that all the scientists and guards had been driven mad with fear, although he did think Ghost Master may have gone a bit too far. Still, he felt no pressing urge to complain. Surprisingly, no one seemed to have connected his mother with the event yet.

"Ghost Master is my hero," Kat said suddenly. Danny jumped and huffed in annoyance.

"How long have you been there?" he demanded.

She shrugged. "About five minutes. I just came to tell you what I learned."

The boy waved her off. "About him and the alligator? Mom already figured it out."

"Well…" Kat started to pout. "What do you need me for then? I work my tail off for you, and this is the thanks I get? See if I offer to help you again!" She vanished, but not before giving Danny a parting shock.

He rolled his eyes; she was such a drama queen.


	8. Epilogue

Back together at last, the band played an upbeat march. Their leader, a harmonica-playing Blues Brother reject named Blues, informed Danny that it was "When the Saints Go Marching." He never would have guessed otherwise.

"Did you ever figure out what they wanted?" he asked the nearby bed sheet.

Ghost Master shook his head. "Not a clue, but we did find them samples they took from you. Ole Gramma Marna smashed them up good."

"Thanks." He sighed heavily. "Listen, thanks for helping Mom, too."

The ghost fixed him with an interested stare. "She's your mom?" he asked, sounding on the verge of laughter.

Danny smiled slightly. "Yeah, that's my mom. She, uh…doesn't know about me. You won't tell her, will you?"

They stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Ghost Master tilted his head and asked slowly, "Is this to reference that you will not be trying to kick us out?" At the boy's nod, he seemed to grin. "Well, then. Consider your secret safe with old Ghost Master."

They shook, a very strange experience since all Danny could feel was a dull pressure where the ghost's hand should have been. "But don't think this mean you can just do whatever you want," he warned. "I have ground rules."

Ghost Master groaned comically. "Of course, he does! They all does! Fine, then, Mr. Ghost Master Danny."

Danny snorted and wondered how long it would take him to regret this as the debate began.

* * *

It was a large grey stone building, the sort of place where one expected to see dark clouds and flashes of lightning overhead. The sun seemed remarkably out of place as it shone brightly into the courtyard. 

The orderly led him through the winding halls that he suspected were designed to confuse, paying little attention to his surroundings until they reached the required door. He stepped into the gloom, hesitating only to ensure there were no obstacles in his way.

"Monsters…" the inmate whispered. "Horr…horrible…horrible teeth and fangs and the SOUND! Oh, the screams…"

"What did you see?" the man demanded.

"Monsters! Horrible monsters! And the dark and the screams…and the teeth…oh, the teeth…and eyes in the darkness…" He babbled on at some length while the man simply listened. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "…and breaking glass…but I fooled them. I fooled them!" he began to laugh hysterically. "I took one with me! I fooled them!"

The man narrowed his eyes and stepped back out. "Did you take anything from this patient?" he asked.

The orderly checked his file and nodded slowly. "Looks like he had a glass vial full of some green and red liquid. Is that all you were looking for?"

The man sighed slightly to mask his delight. "Well, it seems to be all I'm going to get, doesn't it?"

* * *

A/N: And now for a disclaimer, which I didn't want to start with lest I accidentally spoil something. I'd like to thank the wicked awesome computer game Ghost Master for the (extremely roundabout) contribution to the character of the same name, and the idea behind haunting teams. I wouldalso like to thank the (not so great, but still kind of fun) game Ghost Hunter for the "alligator merged with human" idea.

Additionally, as I was writing the part where Danny resolves not to get as rude and abrupt as Kat, I realized that I myself and guilty of the same. I have been totally forgetting to thank my reviewers. So, thank you to all of you who have taken the time to review. I live for your feedback.

Next up: Dance of Bone


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